Rehabilitation Experience, Essay Example

This semester, as well as the previous semester, has been wonderful indeed. I have gained a lot of experience that I can take with me anywhere I go after school. The two people I focused on are unique in their own ways and that is why I managed to gain a lot of diverse experience. I was able to use in practice what I have learned in the class especially with these two people. The two incredible individuals are DT and AP. Regarding interviewing that took place this semester, I will start with DT.

DT is diagnosed with schizophrenia and is an ex-marine PFC. He is capable of managing his money; so, the staff does not keep his money for him which is beneficial for him. He also takes his medication without supervision and does house chores. He always has positive ideas about the goals he wants to achieve; so, he often brings these ideas to the staff’s attention. These are the positive features of his personality.

This positive strength of his led to DT’s overall rehab goal. His overall goal is to have a girlfriend by his 48^thbirthday, in December this year. Before we finalize this goal, DT already has three goals he wanted to achieve. These goals were to have a girlfriend, friends, and sex. However, in the end, his number one priority came down to having a girlfriend. Developing this goal with him was hectic because he never wanted to listen to my ideas but only followed his thoughts. In the end, we came to a mutual agreement that worked out for both of us.

Before we came to that point, he did not want me to interview him saying he was not comfortable with it.  So, I realized that if I hold a paper and ask him questions, he could become uncomfortable; but if I put my paper away, we talk as usual and he would give me the information I needed. Thus, I realized he did not want things to be official. For this reason, I did not arrange a private meeting with him but collected all the required information through our regular conversations.

DT’s recovery plan is something we both agreed on his short-term goals as well as his interventions. He was very enthusiastic about achieving this goal in a positive way. He used to tell me this would be his fourth girlfriend if he managed to achieve his goal, and he was ready for it. DT made a tremendous progress especially on his short-term goal by improving his oral hygiene. He also made progress on his second short-term goal and improved his ability to socialize. However, it did not last long and later he slack back. The freshness of his breath improved as well as his overall appearance. He even went to a shopping mall and spent three hours there with the aim of improving his ability to socialize.

DT started full of energy but lost the motivation to move on with the recovery plan. The reason why I think this occurred is because he feared rejection and he had a very low self-esteem. The main reason why I think so is because he experienced child abuse from his mother when he was a child. Also, he was rejected by women several times making him feel not worthy enough to be with anyone. This experience has made him hostile to people and not being able to trust anybody. The moment he sets to do something he feels no one is going to like him so why even bother about it.

Also, anytime he hears of supportive housing he does not want to do anything that will bring the attention of the counselors. He does not want them to think he is ready for supportive housing. I think this is another reason he slacks on his progress to achieve his overall rehab goal.

If the internship is not over, I will continue to motivate him. I will talk to him about his goal if he wants us to focus more on something that he has an interest in. The reason is that I cannot force a goal on him. Thus, it is up to him to decide what he wants to do, and to keep his interest is the best way to achieve that goal.

Another person I worked with is called AP. He is also diagnosed with schizophrenia. AP is a former truck driver and a cashier at Pathmark. He is very hard working person and never complains about anything. He also cooks for the house most of the time. One of his strength is that he never stops until he can see results of what he was doing.  So working with him is not hectic.

AP’s overall goal is to move into a supportive housing by January 2016. Even though he had a lot of goals like DT, but we came to the conclusion that moving into supportive housing is the best one. Before we came to that conclusion, he was skeptical that refreshing his driving skills was his number one goal. Then I advised him that since he wanted to be in supportive housing, refreshing his driving skills could be one of his short-term goals on the way of achieving his primary goal of supportive housing. He considered that to be a good idea, and we started making recovery plan with the interventions he would have to succeed.

AP is such an amazing person who does what he is told to but on his own slow pace that is not a bad thing. Consequently, he has made a lot of progress with his short-term goals. He did inquiries about driving schools, calling and scheduling an appointment. Even though his first scheduled appointment with an instructor failed because he did not show up, it did not stop him from calling another school and scheduling a new appointment. This time, they came to pick him up for two hours’ drive refreshing his driving skills. I asked how he felt out driving again, and he said he felt nervous the first time, but he became comfortable the second time.

The reason why I think he made this progress is because he is determined or feels he is now ready to move out. He actually said to me that he needs privacy. Due to that, I think it is the primary reason why he is pushing to make positive progress towards his overall rehab goal. If the internship has not ended; I would have loved to continue helping him in achieving his goal. Since he has progressed well in his short-term goal refreshing his driving skills, I will put much focus on his eating habit and exercising. I will volunteer to go with him for a 10-minute jog or walk around the neighborhood. This would have happened any time I went to the house before they eat their lunch. I will also teach him what is good for him to consume and what is not.

In conclusion, everyone is unique in their own way. Thus, working with my two focus people taught me a lot. DT is tough to work with since he can give you a hard time questioning your intelligence. Working with him has taught me that patience is essential in working with such people. On the other hand, AP is very understandable and willing to receive help. Working with both of them on their goals is such a great feeling. I am glad I was helping them achieve something on the way to their recovery. With them, I was able to utilize what I was thought in class like writing a recovery plan and progress notes.